Route Updates: Indecision Peak

Indecision Peak is the peak south of Mt. Wilson in Red Rock Canyon and  is one of the first routes I found during the mid-nineties. The route was very dangerous due to an unstable gully full of huge boulders, hence the route was not done often. For a longtime I wanted to reroute the lower part of the hike to avoid the boulder field.

Last Friday on a whim I did that. The original plan was to hike White Pinnacle Peak. I started from First Creek trailhead and followed the trail to the point where I headed up an alluvial fan toward the red cliff band. The original route heads south just below the red band to the boulder filled gully. I continued up the fan and started to find cairns. The cairns led to steep walls and brush. The brush was thick, but short lived.

Once through the brush I saw more cairns and followed them. Soon I was on a rocky ridge just north of the boulder field heading for the Shale Rock, a major landmark for this hike. This is a great alternative to the old route. It's much safer, shorter and has some nice views.

At the Shale Rock I followed the normal route to the main gully that leads to the summit. In the past this gully had brush, but now due to some rerouting it's mostly brush free. This part of the route is well cairned and worth doing again or, if you have never hiked Indecision Peak, I recommend doing it.

I did not have a GPS with me, so there are no waypoints for the lower part of the route yet, but this photo tells the story. I get waypoints and update this hike for members of Hiking Las Vegas soon.

Stats:

Trailhead: First Creek pulloff - marked
Distance: 6 miles - round trip
Elevation gain: 2,010 feet
Elevation peak: 5,560 feet
Time: 6 hours
Difficulty: 4
Class: 3
How easy to follow: 4